Thursday, September 9, 2010

Steve Titus, Ph.D., J.D., has been named senior vice president for university advancement.

Titus will be responsible for establishing a mission-driven agenda for the university’s advancement program. He will oversee development, alumni, marketing and communication staff and activities at both main campuses, and coordinate and integrate their activities.

Titus comes to Saint Mary’s from Fircrest, Wash., where he served as a senior consultant and executive coach for the Reid Group and as an associate in the Center for Leadership Formation at Seattle University.

Titus previously served as vice president for development and university relations at Pacific Lutheran University, a school of approximately 4,000 students in Tacoma, Wash. Prior to his tenure at Pacific Lutheran, he served for five years as president of Midland College in Fremont, Neb.

Titus earned his Ph.D. at The University of Virginia, Charlottesville; his J.D. at Marquette Law School, Milwaukee; and a B.S. in Business Administration/Organization from Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall.

As part of New Student Volunteer Day, nearly 100 SMU students served 10 organizations on Saturday.

New Student Volunteer Day is dedicated to providing new students with the opportunity to serve the Winona community and to be inspired by the Lasallian spirit early in their college careers.

Students volunteered at the following organizations: Grace Place, Habitat Restore, Lake Winona Manor, Living Light Church, Winona Volunteer Services, Winona Area Humane Society, Winona Catholic Worker, Saint Anne of Winona, Sauer Memorial Home and Salvation Army Store. Students did cleaning, painting, hauling, played BINGO and tended to animals, among other activities.

Several students from SMU were chosen to exhibit in “Watershed,” a juried exhibition at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 800 Riverview Dr. The exhibition features work from SMU and Winona State University students who were asked to create work that was inspired by water. Three winners and 12 runners-up were chosen out of 45 entries. The exhibition, being held in conjunction with “Between the Shining Seas,” will be on display Saturday, Sept. 11, through Saturday, Nov. 13. A reception will be held to announce the winners at 6 p.m. on Sept. 11.

Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for students, $20 for immediate families, or free to children younger than 4.

Graduates from the past decade have been invited back to campus for Young Alumni Weekend, Sept. 10-12.

A welcome reception is planned for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, in the President’s Room.

Approximately 200 alumni are planning to attend the special weekend of events which will also include a “Hike for Hunger” community outreach project, swing dance lessons, ropes course activities and a pig roast picnic. The weekend also coincides with Cardinal ’M‘ Club Weekend, which gives SMU alumni opportunities to cheer on Cardinal athletics. Special events have been planned for the anniversary classes of 2000 and 2005.

Former students often express their interest in reconnecting with faculty and staff. Please make plans to attend! To see a complete schedule of events, go to www.smumn.edu/youngalumni.aspx.

To RSVP for the welcome reception, contact the Alumni Office at alumni@smumn.edu or call Ext. 1499.

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s University Cardinal ‘M’ Club, in association with the Alumni Office, will induct three members into the SMU Sports Hall of Fame during Cardinal ‘M’ Club Weekend Sept. 10-12.

The Hall of Fame Class of 2010 — Teisha (Smith ’00) Devine (fastpitch softball), George Hoder ’67 (basketball) and John Tschida ’90 (Fastpitch Softball Coach) — will be honored during a ceremony Saturday evening, Sept. 11, in the SMU gymnasium.

Along with the induction of this year’s Hall of Fame class, SMU’s 2009-10 postseason award-winners, as well as last year’s outstanding male and female athletes, and outstanding scholar athletes, will also be recognized. The weekend festivities begin on Friday with a men’s hockey alumni game, continue Saturday morning with a golf outing at Cedar Valley Golf Course and conclude on Sunday with a picnic and various alumni games on the SMU campus.

SMU HALL OF FAME, CLASS OF 2010

TEISHA (SMITH ’00) DEVINEChicagoFastpitch SoftballTeisha (Smith ’00) Devine was a four-year letterwinner who was instrumental in guiding the Saint Mary’s University fastpitch softball team to its first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship in 2000. A three-time All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection, Smith led the Cardinals to three straight MIAC regular-season titles in 1997,1998 and 1999. She was named to the NFCA All-Region Team three times — a first-team selection in 1998 and a second-team pick in 1999 and 2000. A two-time team captain and member of the NCAA Regional and National All-Tournament teams, she ranks first in school history in earned-run-average (1.04), while ranking second in career wins (58), third in complete games (35) and shutouts (18) and fifth in strikeouts (215). She also holds the single-season school records for complete games (15) and shutouts (8) and is second in wins (21), appearances (28) and games started (24). During the Cardinals’ run to the 2000 national championship, she went 21-2 and won her last 18 starts — including a perfect 7-0 mark during SMU’s seven post-season games.

GEORGE HODER ’67SeattleBasketballA four-year letterwinner, George Hoder ’67 is one of just 24 players in the program’s history to eclipse the 1,000-point barrier, having netted 1,260 points during his career. Hoder also ranked 10th in program history in free throws attempted (408) and rebounds (536). Hoder averaged a career-best 14.4 ppg during his junior season, when he tossed in 124 field goals on 297 attempts, while also shooting 64 percent from the free throw line (111-for-171).

JOHN TSCHIDA ’90Saint Paul, Minn.Fastpitch Softball CoachJohn Tschida ’90 spent six years as the Cardinals’ head fastpitch coach, guiding SMU to post-season appearances in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. His Cardinals won back-to-back-to-back Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference crowns in 1997, 1998 and 1999, and his 2000 SMU team became the first in school history to capture the NCAA Division III national title. Following the 2000 season, Tschida accepted the head coaching position at the University of St. Thomas, where he coached the Tommies to back-to-back national championships in 2004 and 2005. With his UST national crown in 2004, Tschida became the first fastpitch coach to win NCAA titles at two different schools. A 1990 graduate of SMU — where he was a four-year letterwinner for the Cardinal baseball team — Tschida is the winningest Division III coach, active or retired, boasting a 573-98 record and an .854 winning percentage. Tschida has been named MIAC Coach of the Year in eight of his 15 years at the helm at SMU and UST. His teams have been nationally ranked each year, and in the last 13 seasons have posted a 273-13 record in conference regular-season play. In nine seasons at St. Thomas, his teams have swept 91 conference twinbills, split seven and were swept just once, and in all games vs. conference opponents are 208-9 (.958).

The week of Oct. 3-9 is Lasallian Week of Peace. The Lasallian Week of Peace originated in 2006 during a meeting of Young Lasallians in Rome to encourage Lasallian schools to participate in one of the social justice initiatives of the church as well as to pray for world peace.

Anthony Holter '00, a Remick Fellow at Notre Dame University, will present, “No Greater Work: Discerning a profession through your Lasallian Education” today, Friday, Sept. 10. The event, co-sponsored by the Psychology, Theology, and Education Departments, will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. in the World Room. Refreshments will be provided.

The next “Let’s Do Lunch” will be a Halloween party on Friday, Oct. 29. Proceeds will benefit Christ the Teacher Institute for Education on our Nairobi campus. Start gathering costume ideas for your offices and departments.

The volunteer committee will host a DVD and video game exchange on Wednesday, Oct. 6, in Saint Mary’s Hall. Donations can be brought to the Business Office or to Student Activities before Monday, Oct. 4. No CDs or video tapes will be accepted. Proceeds will benefit Christ the Teacher Institute for Education on SMU Nairobi campus.

Dr. Dooley is a Sinsinawa (Wis.) Dominican Sister who teaches at Dominican University in River Forest, Ill. For the past 25 years, she taught in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

She holds an M.A. from the Catholic University of America, a M.Th. from Harvard Divinity School, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Dr. Dooley has published widely in catechetical and liturgical journals and written a number of texts and resource materials for religious education. She is one of the general editors for the Benziger series, “Christ Jesus the Way” and has won numerous national awards.

The Vineyard Colloquia is a series of national and local scholars and practitioners of Catholic ministry, speaking and sparking conversation on the practice and spirituality of lay ecclesial ministry.

The event, hosted by the Department of Theology, is free and open to the public.

Guest pianist Svetlana Belsky will present a public recital 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at Saint Mary’s. The free performance — to be held in Figliulo Recital Hall — will include works of Busoni.

Born in the Soviet Union, Belsky began piano lessons at the age of 7, and was soon performing in the major concert halls of her native Kiev. Her playing has been critically acclaimed as “passionate,” “impressive,” “hypnotic” and “... (possessing) a high degree of musical maturity and sensitivity.”

After immigrating to the United States, Belsky studied with Chicago’s beloved Emilio Del Rosario. She received her Bachelor of Music and Master degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and her Doctorate in Performance at the Manhattan School of Music.

Although she trained mainly in the United States, Belsky has an unmistakably Russian temperament and tonal gift, with which she combines her stylistic versatility and love for a wide variety of music. Belsky has won prizes in numerous national and international piano competitions and has been active as a recitalist and chamber performer throughout the United States, in concert and on the radio. Plans for the upcoming seasons include concerts of Ferruccio Busoni's compositions in the United States, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

She is the coordinator of Piano Studies at the University of Chicago. Her busy teaching schedule includes students from four continents, many of whom are competition winners, professional musicians and performers themselves. She is great demand as a lecturer on the subjects of piano pedagogy, masterclass guest teacher, and competition adjudicator. Additionally, Belsky has written widely on music history, appreciation and piano literature.

This is the 10th year for the Music Access for All (MAFA) music program, started by Dr. John Paulson, professor of music. The program’s goal is to help kids get started in band or on piano and get them enrolled in school music programs.

MAFA helps students in need of financial assistance get instruments at low or no cost. Also, free lessons on woodwinds, brass, piano or jazz improvisation are available on Saturday mornings at the Maplewood Townhomes Community Center.

Saint Mary’s bi-annual Red Cross Blood Drive, hosted by the sisters of SAI, will be held Oct. 18-19 in the Hall of Fame Room from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, contact Nicole Ciulla, SAI programs director, nkciul07@smumn.edu.

The first Chat, Chow & Web 2.0 is an invitation to meet Laura Oanes, the new library director, see the new library space, and hear about the latest SMU technology updates. The event is noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22.

Nancy Sims, copyright program librarian at the U of M, will discuss copyright issues relevant to higher education, including using teaching materials in class and online for the October Chat & Chow event. Sims will present from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27.

Meet in the main lounge of the McEnery Center. The event is sponsored by the Fitzgerald Library, IT and Instructional Technology. Lunch will be provided; an RSVP is appreciated, but not necessary, and everyone is welcome. For more information, contact Jason Spartz, jspartz@smumn.edu.

The event, which is planned for 7 p.m., will be held in Figliulo Recital Hall.

Presenters will be Mark Anfinson, an attorney for the Minnesota Newspaper Association, and Laurie Beyer-Kropuenske, director of the information policy analysis division of the Minnesota Administration Department.

Anfinson and Beyer-Kropuenske will review recent court rulings that relate to communication law and data privacy. Other topics to be addressed include:

• Whether existing communication laws are still relevant to new communication technologies and practices;• Ways in which technology has changed expectations about privacy;• Citizens’ access to government data; and• New legislation improving citizen access to government records.

The event, free and open to the public, is being held in conjunction with Constitution Day.

Season tickets for the 2010-2011 Page Series are available until Sept. 17. Purchase tickets for any three Page Series events and receive 10 percent off individual prices. Returning subscribers receive 25 percent off individual prices.

Individual tickets are now available though the box office or online.

Information and tickets for the Page Series and all the SMU arts events are available at www.pagetheatre.org or at the box office Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or by phone, Ext. 1715.

Dr. David Lynch of the Social Science Department had his book, “Trade and Globalization: An Introduction to Regional Trade Agreements,” published by Rowman and Littlefield Publishers in July. The book will also have a companion website with maps made using GIS software and additional text at www.rowman.com/isbn/0742566897.

Dr. Christian Michener, Department of English, has published “Saints and Sisters: The Sacred Chorus in the Poetry of Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin,” an essay that appears in the Summer 2010 volume of New Hibernia Review, an interdisciplinary journal of Irish studies.

The annual Mississippi River cleanup will be held 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at Latsch Island Beach. Volunteers will go out in boats to remove eyesores and pollutants, such as treated wood, discarded tires and metals from islands, shorelines and dikes. A free lunch and music will be provided.